Facebook announces plan to create its own currency

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a severe case of crypto fever.Zuckerberg’s $538 billion social network on Tuesday announced plans to create a new digital currency and financial system that it claims will revolutionize banking.

Facebook announced the new currency, called Libra, in a 12-page white paper that promised vast improvements on bitcoin and other volatile digital coins.

Facebook said it aims to make Libra more stable than bitcoin — and therefore more attractive to everyday users — by linking the coins to hard assets, including short-term government securities. Consumers can then use the e-coins to make purchases around the world or send money to friends and family, without attaching it to their identity, Facebook said.

The tech giant plans to profit from Libra through Calibra, a digital wallet it is building to store and exchange the currency. The wallet will exist as a standalone app as well as in Facebook products like WhatsApp and Messenger.

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